Whole Hog 2014

I think this marks the first instance of vintage on the site. I covered Whole Hog last year, as Whole Hog is one of my favorite pumpkin beers, and it only makes sense to do it again this year. Whole Hog is part of Stevens Point Brewery's specialty beer line. Point is known in Wisconsin, but it looks like Whole Hog Pumpkin Ale has a few awards under its belt, too.

I think Whole Hog is my #1 pumpkin beer in "authentic pumpkin pie taste". There are certianly other great pumpkin beers out there, and this might not even be my favorite pumpkin beer, but it tastes just like pumpkin pie. It's almost overwhelming. I brought a bottle of Whole Hog to my friend's wedding in Detroit as an example of what Wisconsin Beer was all about.

Prep/Cooking

The interesting thing about this batter is how surprisingly normal it was. It looked pretty much just like regular batter (maybe a little darker, or maybe I'm just not sure what regular batter looks like anymore), and it had a mild pumpkin aroma and flavor, but not much. I did get a bit more at the end of pancake-making when I was taking more than a tiny taste, but overall nothing like the beer.

Results

In terms of looks, this is what I imagine pumpkin beer pancakes should look like. For whatever reason, the color makes more sense as a pancake than as batter. In terms of flavor, they don't taste like pumpkin at all. If someone said "Hey, want some pancakes?" and gave me these, I'd be happy. If somebody said "Hey, want some pumpkin beer pancakes?" and gave me this, I would be an unhappy camper. Kind of a disappointment given how great the beer is.

The Decision

• Pancakes: No. The beer is fantastic. The batter is mediocre. The pancakes are nice pancakes, but you can have regular pancakes anytime. Don't waste the beer on it.
• Syrup: No. I'm actually thinking about discontinuing the syrup part because it almost never makes it better. It's like it could be a special feature on those that it does.

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